The fact that black men are going to prison at such a high rate for the same thing white males get a pass on is connected to many issues but yes unfortunately race is a strong one. I used to work in the prisons and juvenile justice system; yes the institutional racism is very real here; I have witnessed it first hand in “Placement Advisory Board” meetings. This is the regular Friday meeting where the staff that worked at the Juvenile Center would meet to make the recommendations to the judge, it was jaw dropping experience to hear some of the things I heard. One of the more harmful things about institutional racism comes from the fact that much of it is subliminal and the people who harbot such sentiments often think of themselves as being pretty enlightened.
Having said that it is also true that we as black people have plenty of work to do in our communities; we need to have more engagement from our professionals to go into high risk areas and take on the challenges of working more closely with those of us who have lost our way; nobody is really going to solve the problem for us; we must do all we can to keep people from going into the criminal courts; as Malcom X taught us long time ago, “Whatever you do obey the law, you will not get justice in the white mans court” Or Clarence Thomas’s court.
If you are not OJ Simpson or Michael Jackson and you do not have millions to spend on court fees I believe there are far too many brothers who will be looking at justice from a distance!

I live in Calif and witness the success of legal pot; it is very much the way to go. A person going through chemotherapy, one who get migraines, or anyone who finds the plant to help them medicinally should not have to feel like a criminal going to parks and street corners buying pot. Of course there are people who abuse the fact pot is legal here but you are not going to stop the few who take advantage of legalization; you still come out way ahead of the game but using reasonable legalization methods.

Lot of stuff there to respond to, Michael, but let me begin by saying I’m a political moderate, not a socialist. I usually find it easier to side with the Dems because their values are more about people, and the scope of their philosophy is inclusive of all in this country. That, of course, includes you, Mike.

But it’s no wonder you think I’m a socialist, because in your mentality, anyone that works for the country as a whole must have something wrong with them. But to me, of course, it’s those who teach working for yourselves that are wrong.

If you’ve ever worked for a professional corporation, as I have, you would know that selfish people don’t do well in that kind of environment. If you’re not working for the good of the whole company, Michael, and helping it succeed, you’re not going up. In fact, you might be going out really fast. But is this socialism, Michael? By your logic, it is.

So why then is your definition of socialism, one of working for the whole country and helping everyone in it grow to their potential. This can only be done through their own efforts, of course, so what’s the problem, especially if it makes the country and the Constitution on which it’s founded stronger in the process? Are you trying to tell me this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be? And are you still willing to call this kind of attitude “socialist”? That’s nuts, Mike.

I’ll bet there’s not a local group – family or otherwise – organization, community, or business, especially the military, that you’ve been involved with in your short life, where you’ve had this same kind of nonsense attitude.

I’m certain that you know something about success, but somehow, when it comes to our nation as a whole, you turn it all backwards, put yourself first and foremost, and start talking jibberish that makes no sense at all.

You can’t have a successful nation, Michael, by serving just yourself, and to heck with the government that tries to stand in your way by serving everyone else as well. Like I said, Mike, that’s just plain wrong, and you know it!

MHS: It is not the role of government to provide sustenance as the financial means whereby one lives their life.

Michael, here I was referring to unemployment and all the things people need to keep on living and providing for their families when their economy has failed them miserably. That’s the kind of “sustenance” I was talking about. Our current mess started under President Bush and his policies, and wound up on President Obama’s desk his first day in office, and he hasn’t done badly with it at all.

I shutter to think what another Republican president would have done in his place – more of the same I’m sure. So now that we know for certain that the three main principles of right-wing philosophy – tax cuts, deregulation, and feed the rich – don’t work well at all when enacted without concern for ALL Americans, I can only imagine how bad things would have become by now had your party won last November.

Like I said, Michael, it’s not socialism to care about everyone; it’s patriotic. In fact, let me go you one more: I think it’s Christian. Are you Christian, Michael, you know the kind of Christianity that Jesus taught? Or are you just as selfish about what you expect from your Lord as what you expect from your country?

You know God loves all of us, Michael, so are we supposed to be different? And if you believe in loving everyone on Sunday, can’t we expand that to every other day of the week without some unpatriotic, self-serving goof calling it socialism? I hope so, dude, for both of us.:)